Fakiru Week 2014-Fantasy
by mayuralover
Summary: A story written for Fakiru Week 2014, theme Fantasy. Semi-AU. The popular MMORPG Fantasy Fighter Online gathers players from around the world into a game of fantasy and adventure. Two players get ready to delve into a newly released map, but what dangers await them? And what happens when they meet IRL?


A/N: For a better look at the cover art drawing that done for this story, go here without the spaces: d80x5bw

Disclaimer: I don't own Princess Tutu.

* * *

"Time to log into _FFO_ and see whether that new dungeon's been released; I could really use some orbs to unlock more abilities on the Ability Tree." Ahiru put on a headset with a microphone attached and tapped on her keyboard, logging onto the popular MMORPG _Fantasy Fighter Online_ as PrincessTutuSwan. She had been addicted ever since her friends Pique and Lillie had shown her the site. Many of the students at Goldcrown Academy also played it, so it was fun to form parties with them and go on quests or farm for orbs. Even though she knew a few of the students who played online, Ahiru wasn't sure of the majority of them; they had different player avatars and even spoke and acted differently than they did in real life. _I suppose that's how it is on the Net. Can't give away too many secrets,_ Ahiru thought. _Heck, even_ I'm _keeping my identity a secret._

"Sweet, looks like the Amber Forest map has been released, let's get this show on the road!"

[In Game Perspective]

Ahiru wandered into the Tavern and looked on the message board to see if anyone was leaving for the Amber Forests. She noticed that her friend, Rue, was also on the server and sent her a private message asking if she was going to the new dungeon.

Black_Kraehe01: Sorry, not heading out there today, find someone else? :/

PrincessTutuSwan: Yeah, guess I have to. See ya later.

Unhappy that she couldn't find anyone to join, Ahiru sent a shout out message, figuring it'd be faster than posting for parties on the message board.

PrincessTutuSwan[shout out]: Anyone going to the Amber Forest? Mage looking for a party to join!

Immediately, a _ping_ sounded and a message popped up. **Knight_Writer would like to join your party.** _Well, that was quick, already a party request. Accept!_ Ahiru was transported to Knight_Writer's location. When she arrived, she looked around and saw a figure in the shadows of a tree. The figure walked out and Ahiru guessed that he was her new party member. Knight_Writer was dressed in black clothes, with silver armor, a dark green cloak, and a black cloth covering the lower half of his face. _A knight class… fitting for his username!_

"Hey, you must be Knight_Writer; can I call you Knight?" Ahiru asked.

"So you're the mage Tutu? Heard about you on the _FFO_ forums that you were good. Sure, call me whatever." Knight said. "Let's just get this over quick."

"Wait, you're not going to add more people to the party?" Ahiru asked. She had to admit, she was a pretty high level mage, but a two person party for exploring the new area did not sound like a good idea.

"Don't need to, I know my way around, so let's just head to the boss dungeon. And before you ask, my cousin's the map's designer, so I was able to beta test it for him." Knight walked on ahead towards the gate leading to the Amber Forest.

"So what do you need my help for, if you know your way around?" Ahiru asked, running up behind him. She wished that she could have beta tested the map before others got to play through it.

Knight shrugged and said, "It's always good to have someone else to heal you, and this map is pretty difficult alone."

 _I suppose I can take that as an answer,_ Ahiru thought, _but he's pretty rude about it._ The two players stepped through the gate and instantly, the scenery changed. No more were there buildings and shops and instead, they were surrounded by trees dressed in autumn foliage. To the north was a great mountain, where Ahiru guessed was the map's boss. Ahiru and Knight treaded carefully through the brush, Ahiru holding onto her spell book with one hand while wielding a short sword in the other hand and Knight wielded a long sword with an emblem of two swans on the guard.

"Before we go any further, Knight, let me use some buffs on us." Ahiru flipped through her spell book and with a full mana gauge, cast the buffs to increase stamina, health regeneration, fleet footed-ness. "There, now we're all powered up!"

"I guess your skills aren't too bad. Thanks for the buffs. Now keep an eye for enemy ambushes-" Knight said, but was cut off when a group of crow-like demons flew down from the sky. They gave a loud screech and rained down sharp feathers on the two.

"Improbability sphere!" Ahiru cried, and a sphere-like barrier formed around Knight and her. Ahiru began chanting magic spells and fired lightning bolts at the crows, but they were too fast for her to target. With her concentration broken, the sphere shield came shattering down with the constant barrage of feathers.

"Hey, watch out!" Knight yelled, throwing him at Ahiru and pulling them under the safety of a nearby tree. "Think a little, will you? Even with the health regen buff, you nearly got yourself killed!"

"Well, what am I supposed to do? You're the one that's already been here!" Ahiru huffed and crossed her arms. "Since you requested I be in your party, tell me what to do then!"

"Listen, we need to get past those crows, so buff us with a Ghost spell or something to raise the chance that the feathers will go right through us and not hurt us. I'll take them out; just head towards the other end of the field, okay?" Knight said. "I'm counting on you."

Ahiru blushed when he said that, "Er… right, sure. Gotcha. Ghost, okay." Ahiru flipped through her book and chanted the spell and both of them looked more ethereal. "Better get to it, Knight, I'll see you at the other end!" With that, the two dashed out into the open, into the rain of feathers. Because of the high level of the buff, the feathers flew right through the Ahiru and Knight, making them practically invincible against the crows' attacks. Knight ran into the horde and performed an aerial jump, launching himself high into the air. Knight thrust his sword and slashed at the crows, clearing the sky of the black cloud in minutes.

"Wow, that was something. Now I remember who you are! People are always going on about this guy who's awesome at using a sword. Must be talking about you!" Ahiru beamed. "I guess the two of us make a pretty good team!"

"If you thought that was something, wait until we get deeper into this map," Knight smirked. "I suppose you aren't too shabby yourself, Tutu." He walked on without turning to see if she would follow. Deeper and deeper they went into the map, encountering more crows, each horde more dangerous than the last. When they arrived at the foot of the mountain, Ahiru was all warn out, her energy depleted and her buffs constantly needed to be recharged.

During a break between hordes, Ahiru turned to Knight and quite exasperatedly asked, "How did you ever make it through this dungeon alive, Knight?! This is ridiculous, the difficulty level is 10 times harder than the Crystal Hall-Challenge of 1000 Enemies!"

Knight looked over from the rock he sat on and wiped his brow with his sleeve. "Yeah, it was a bit easier when I beta tested it," he said. "But if I remember correctly, the cavern where the boss is around the mountainside. And don't you think we did just fine by ourselves?"

"Yeah, we do make a pretty good team. All right, mana and stamina up, now for some more buffs." Ahiru put up the highest leveled buffs she had; she knew the end boss was going to wreck them if she didn't put in her all.

Surprisingly, the short walk around the mountainside was free of any enemies, making them suspicious and relieved at the same time. However, their relief was short lived when a piercing cry ripped through the air. Ahiru covered her ears and sank to her knees, having a hard time standing. "Sound based attacks?" Ahiru asked, taking the hand Knight had offered and hoisted herself up.

"Shockwaves and ally summoning. So more crows, yay," Knight said, sarcastically. "You should use debuffs on the boss; I'll handle the small fry, and when his defenses are down, I'll go in for the finishing blow."

Ahiru nodded. _So it's the final battle, huh? Well, it was nice working with Knight. I wonder that he's like in real life. Maybe I can ask him when we're done with the mission. Okay, I'll do that!_ With newfound determination, Ahiru and Knight plunged straight into the darkness of the cavern.

The inside was lit with torches hung on the walls every dozen feet, so it wasn't difficult to see, but the aura emanating from the end boss at the end was stifling enough to cause Ahiru to blank out sometimes. The tunnel lead down deep into the mountain and at long last, a large, stone door opened up to reveal a large open space in the center of the mountain. A huge, black figure loomed in front of them, but it grew bigger when it spread of its black feathered wings. The end boss was a giant Crow Devil, king of the crow demon.

"The plan, Tutu! Go!" yelled Knight, as the Crow Devil raised his wings to give an ear-splitting screech that summoned his minions. Knight began hacking away at the hordes of ever-appearing crows, protecting Ahiru and giving her time to perform her debuffs on the Crow Devil.

Spell after spell Ahiru called out, trying to wear down the massive creature. Poisonga and Woundga to inflict damage, and Stopga to prevent it from summoning more crow demons or attacking Ahiru and Knight. Finally whittled down to half health, Ahiru said, "Knight! If we combine our next attacks, we can take him down! I don't have enough mana and stamina to keep stalling him with poison and wound!"

"Tsk…" Knight said. "Fine, if you do something to buff up my attack power, I'll be able to take him down with a Hyper Drive Attack." In a break between attacks, Knight took Ahiru by the elbow and they hid behind a rock formation. "Tutu, just in case I don't make it, can you revive me?"

Ahiru shook her head, her magic power was drained and if Knight didn't make it, that would guarantee that she wouldn't either. That's the only downside to being a famed and high level mage. Her fame made others want to include her in their party, but if she didn't play as support to others, she wouldn't be able to make it through a dungeon alive. "I'll put the rest of my energy into increasing your attack power; I'm counting on you, Knight!"

Knight smirked and said, "Well, a knight's got to protect his princess, right?" Kneeling on the ground, he gripped both hands on his sword and began to charge up for a Hyper Drive Attack.

Ahiru blushed and remembered what she wanted to ask him if they defeated the boss. _Well, there's no time like the present._ "Knight! Um, I was thinking, you know, that when we defeat the boss, we could, you know, meet in real life? Assuming you live anywhere near me, that is! Because a lot of kids I know on this server go to Goldcrown Academy, so maybe you go there, too? Well, you don't have to go there to be on this server, so I guess I'm assuming too much…" There she went again, running her mouth! _Ahiru! Shut up or he'll think you're an idiot!_

She finally stopped talking and looked at Knight. He was fully charged and gave her a blank stare. When he spoke, he also looked embarrassed. "I go to Goldcrown, too, so maybe we could meet up, you know, like you said. After we defeat that crow."

Ahiru was so excited and filled with renewed energy, took his hands and smiled. Knight was startled and tried to shake Ahiru off. "I-idiot, what do you need to hold hands for?" Under his cloth mask, Knight was blushing up to his ears.

"Who are you calling an idiot? This is how I enchant people, okay?" Ahiru said. She murmured a spell and energy flowed from her body to Knight's. This was a last ditch spell, and Knight knew that he had to pull off the Hyper Drive Attack or it was game over for the both of them. Drained, Ahiru lay against the wall of the cave and watched Knight dodge an oncoming horde, running straight for the Crow Devil.

His sword gave off a brilliant light and Knight jumped up and plunged it into the Crow Devil's chest. Light shown from its body and in a spectacular display, the boss shattered into a million pieces. Ahiru grabbed the wall for support, then ran to Knight. The two were showered in experience orbs and gold.

"We did it! We did it, Knight!" Ahiru grabbed Knight's hands and jumped up and down. In a spur of the moment, Knight gave Ahiru a hug, and the two stood there, basking in the glory of having been the first two to defeat the Amber Forest boss. They realized they were still hugging and let go of each other.

Embarrassed by his actions, he motioned towards the gate that had appeared. "Well, let's go back to town, I guess."

"Well, I was thinking of logging off here. But before I go, how about deciding on a place to meet up. You know, in real life?" Ahiru said. "How about by the lake, the one in the forest, tomorrow at noon?"

Knight nodded and said, "I guess I'll see you there then." With a wave, Knight stepped into the gate and Ahiru logged off.

[Real Life Perspective]

Just before noon the next day, Ahiru stood on the pier looking out across the lake. It was more of a pond, really, but she knew that if Knight went to Goldcrown, he'd know what she meant. _I wonder who he is, what he's like, if I've ever met him before._ There was one person she hoped he would be, however, a guy in her computer class named Fakir. Good with computers, he had helped her out numerous times during class. Of course, that was a 1 in 2000 chance. _Whoever Knight is, I know that I'll make a new friend today!_ Ahiru thought.

Rustling of the bushes alerted Ahiru and she turned around to see who was coming. Out of the shadows stepped a figure. Unsurprisingly, he was wearing a black shirt and a green hoodie, the hood pulled over his head so Ahiru couldn't make out his face.

"Tutu, or should I say, Ahiru." Knight said, pulling back his hood.

Ahiru gasped and covered her gaping mouth. She couldn't believe who Knight was! He was Fakir! Behind the stoic knight who she had slayed crows with was the one person she had a crush on! "You're Knight, Fakir?!" Ahiru cried.

"Um, yeah. Surprised?' Fakir grinned and closed the distance between them. "I know this seems kind of underhanded, but I've known that you were Tutu for a while now. I just wanted to get to know you better." Embarrassed, Fakir looked at everything but Ahiru and only when she started speaking did he steal a glance at her.

"Yeah, I'm really surprised. I didn't know you played _FFO_." Ahiru didn't really know what to say now that she was faced with her crush. "Um…"

The silence was killing the two, and pulling himself together, Fakir finally blurted out, "So I like you, Ahiru. Ever since I met you in class. And when I found out that you played _FFO_ , I knew that I wanted to try to get closer to you. So what I'm saying is… would you like to join my party?" Immediately after the words tumbled out of his mouth, Fakir did a mental face palm. _Idiot! She's going to think you're such a nerd, asking her out like that!_

Blank faced, Ahiru stared at Fakir, trying to comprehend what he had told her. He liked her? Join his party? Fakir was asking her out… right? Grinning from ear to ear, Ahiru said, "Of course I'd love to join your party!

"And I, uh, like you, too," she added, quieter than her first statement. Now Fakir was grinning ear to ear and enveloped Ahiru in a big hug. "Hey, Knight! Let go of me, what's with this sudden hug?" Even though she said this, Ahiru was still blushing madly and secretly wanted the hug to last forever.

Letting go, Fakir took her hands and said, "That's how I enchant people."

Giggling, Ahiru said, "You're going to protect me on our quests, right, Knight?"

"Of course, Tutu. A knight's got to protect his princess."


End file.
